Citric acid is a well-known item of commerce. It is generally produced by the selective fermentation of carbohydrates or hydrocarbons using fungi or yeasts. Various organic syntheses of citric acid have been proposed in recent years. Representative prior art on such organic syntheses are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,356,721, 3,755,436, 3,769,337, 3,769,338, 3,770,796, 3,783,154, 3,798,266, 3,852,322, 3,912,778, 3,917,686, 3,950,390, 3,950,397, 3,962,287, 4,022,823, 4,056,567, 4,066,688, 4,079,088, 4,113,771 and 4,139,556. None of these prior art processes employ isotetralin as a starting material. Since isotetralin can be obtained from naphthalene, none of these prior art processes disclose the use of readily available naphthalene as a starting material.